The present invention relates to the formation of drainage and ventilation passageways within a building structure to prevent the accumulation of moisture within the building structure, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a spacer, a building structure assembled with the spacer, and a method of assembling a building structure with the spacer such that the spacer provides substantially vertically-disposed, continuous, unobstructed drainage paths adjacent an inner sheathing member and an outer building material of the structure.
Moisture which accumulates within a building structure, such as an exterior wall of a building, will cause premature deterioration of the building structure. To avoid the accumulation of moisture, it has previously been recommended to provide ventilation and/or drainage passageways between an inner sheathing member and an outer building material of the building structure.
Entrapped moisture is particularly a problem on wall structures of buildings covered with a house-wrap product. Typical house-wraps utilized in building constructions are engineered to permit one-way passage of vapor therethrough so that moisture vapor can escape the building but cannot enter the building. Vapor which is permitted to pass through house-wrap must be provided with a drainage path through the remainder of the wall; otherwise, condensation will form and become entrapped within the wall.
One known building component for use in providing a path of ventilation in a roof or wall of a building structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,627 which issued to Coulton et al. and which is assigned to Benjamin Obdyke, Inc., the assignee of the present application. According to the Coulton patent, an openwork member is located between an inner sheathing member and an outer building material, such as wooden shingles. The openwork member provides vapor flow paths therethrough to prevent moisture from becoming entrapped adjacent the inner sheathing member and adjacent the outer building material. As disclosed in the ""627 patent, the preferred embodiment of an openwork member is made of a resilient matrix of matted self-supporting filaments providing multiple vapor flow paths therethrough.
Other building products are known which are provided in a corrugated shape. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,390 issued to Sacks discloses a vapor permeable membrane having spacers thereon for the purpose of providing drainage passageways within a wall of a building. For instance, FIG. 4 of the Sacks patent discloses a vapor permeable membrane having corrugated spacer elements attached at regular intervals on the membrane, and in an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, the membrane itself is provided in a corrugated form.
Another corrugated product is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,614 which issued to Slocum et al. and which discloses a multilayer, corrugated house-wrap film for use within the exterior walls of buildings. A further example of a corrugated building component is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,339,220 which issued to Crowley and which discloses a building panel having a corrugated metal stiffening member sandwiched between outer layers of wooden material.
Other building products for providing drainage and/or ventilation passageways within building structures are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,353 issued to Egan; U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,259 issued to Laska; U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,890 issued to Tonyan; U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,673 issued to Atkins; U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,367 issued to Kleckner; U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,388 issued to Friesen; U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,392 issued to Sylvest; U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,462 issued to Sieber; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,314 issued to Rothberg. The Egan patent discloses a drainage mat including a vapor permeable membrane and an openwork mat of filaments having a waffle-like structure. The Laska patent discloses an insulated cuspated sheet of plastic for use in providing open drainage paths behind masonry walls. The Tonyan patent discloses a weather resistive membrane having an attached mesh material which provides open spaces for the flow of moisture downwardly within a wall structure. The Atkins patent discloses a layer of mesh material providing drainage pathways behind an exterior masonry wall. The Kleckner patent discloses a rigid undulating support for providing ventilation between roof insulation board and a roof deck. The Friesen patent discloses a double-sided cuspated plastic sheet material for use in providing ventilation pathways within a flat roof. The Sylvest patent discloses a roof covering sheet material including a layer of openwork mat. The Sieber patent discloses a double-sided cuspated plastic sheet material for use between the ground and a building foundation for providing protective, ventilation, heat-insulating, and drainage functions, and the Rothberg patent discloses a cuspated plastic sheet drainage mat for roofs and decks.
Certain building products are provided in a spiral roll to enable efficient storage and transportation. Such products are generally referred to as so-called roll-form products. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,902,432 and 5,673,521 which issued to Coulton et al. and which are assigned to Benjamin Obdyke, Inc. disclose roof ridge vents provided as elongate, roll-form, sheet-like, thermoplastic webs of material. Also see U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,595 issued to McCorsley, III et al. which discloses a roll-form roof ridge vent constructed of an openwork mat, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,734 issued to Morris which discloses a roll-form roof ridge vent made of a blank of corrugated plastic sheet material.
Although the drainage and/or ventilation mats and the like disclosed in the above referenced patents may function satisfactorily for their intended purposes, there remains a need for an inexpensive roll-form spacer product made of an elongate web of material which can be utilized in a wall and/or roof construction to provide continuous, unobstructed, vertically-disposed drainage paths and ventilation air spaces between an inner sheathing member and an outer building material. The spacer should permit ready installation requiring only a minimum of skill and should provide drainage and/or ventilation paths along both the inner sheathing member and the outer building material. Preferably, the spacer product also provides ventilation paths transversely through the web and can be inexpensively manufactured requiring only a minimum of material.
With the foregoing in mind, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an efficient and economical spacer product which is capable of being readily installed in a wall or roof structure between an inner sheathing member and an outer building material and which provides continuous, unobstructed, vertically-disposed drainage passageways adjacent both the inner sheathing member and the outer building material.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a building structure having continuous, unobstructed, vertically-disposed drainage paths therein which prevent moisture from becoming entrapped within the structure.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of assembling a building structure which ensures that continuous and unobstructed drainage paths are vertically-disposed adjacent both an inner sheathing member and an outer building material.
More specifically, the present invention is a spacer utilized to provide drainage paths and air space within a building structure thereby preventing deterioration of the building structure due to trapped moisture. The spacer is a continuous, indeterminate-length, roll-form, corrugated web of material which has an undulating front face, a corresponding undulating rear face, and a pair of serpentine-shaped, longitudinally-extending side edges. The corrugated web is capable of being rolled lengthwise into a spiral roll about an imaginary central axis during manufacture and being unrolled lengthwise during installation, and each of the undulating front and rear faces have an alternating array of ridges and grooves which extend continuously from one side edge to the other. When the corrugated web is unrolled laterally on the building structure for installation on the building structure, the grooves on the front and rear faces provide substantially vertically-disposed, continuous, unobstructed drainage paths. Preferably, the side edges are substantially parallel, and the ridges and grooves extend substantially perpendicular to the side edges and substantially parallel to the imaginary central axis of the spiral roll. In addition, the preferred embodiment of the web is an openwork mat of randomly convoluted polymeric filaments.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a building structure is provided having drainage passageways and air spaces therein to prevent moisture from being trapped and to retard deterioration. To this end, the building structure includes an inner sheathing member, an outer building material, and an elongate corrugated web of material located therebetween for providing drainage passageways and air spaces therein. The corrugated web has an undulating front face, a corresponding undulating rear face, and a pair of longitudinally-extending side edges each having a serpentine configuration. The pair of side edges are substantially parallel and are installed in the building structure such that they extend substantially parallel with the horizontal. Each of the undulating front and rear faces have an alternating array of ridges and grooves which extend continuously from one of side edge to the other such that the grooves on the front and rear faces provide substantially vertically-disposed, continuous, unobstructed drainage paths within the building structure.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of assembling a building structure is provided. A spiral roll of an elongate corrugated web of material is provided adjacent an installed inner sheathing member of a building structure. The web has an undulating front face, a corresponding undulating rear face, and a pair of serpentine-shaped, longitudinally-extending side edges, and each of the undulating front and rear faces have an alternating array of ridges and grooves which extend continuously from one side edge to the other. The web is unrolled in a lengthwise direction horizontally on the sheathing and secured to the sheathing such that the rear face of the web faces the sheathing and the side edges of the web extend substantially parallel to the horizontal. Thus, the grooves on the front and rear faces of the web provide substantially vertically-disposed, continuous, unobstructed drainage paths within the building structure.